Thales wins Saudia contract for TopFlight systems

With the extended broadband capability of the new TopFlightsystem, passengers will be able to use cellular telephones and Internet with worldwide roaming aboard the aircraft.

According to the European manufacturer it establishes a new level of performance for making and receiving voice calls, SMS, E-mails or surfing the web with personal electronic devices. Taking full advantage of Inmarsat's new I4 series satellites, Topflight offers data rates of 432 kbps per channel. Importantly, this new standard of SATCOM continues to support Inmarsat Aero-services for flightdeck voice and data connectivity, an essential part of oceanic FANS and ATS communications.

The additional capability of Internet Protocol (IP) based broadband enables crew and operations to exchange data more efficiently and with a greater fidelity; supporting applications such as Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and aircraft system monitoring.

This ARINC -781 compliant Satellite Data Unit (SDU), part of Thales TopFlight Line, brings a breakthrough in SATCOM size and performance. The SDU is housed in a single 6 MCU enclosure, making it a cost-effective solution equally applicable to short haul and long haul aircraft, as well as regional aircraft.